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Helping Homeschoolers in the Library

Helping Homeschoolers in the Library. Adrienne Furness adrienne.furness@gmail.com. Homeschooling in the United States . 2003 report from the National Center for Education Statistics More than 1.1 million children and teens homeschooled in 2003 2.2% of the school-aged population .

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Helping Homeschoolers in the Library

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  1. Helping Homeschoolers in the Library Adrienne Furness adrienne.furness@gmail.com

  2. Homeschooling in the United States • 2003 report from the National Center for Education Statistics • More than 1.1 million children and teens homeschooled in 2003 • 2.2% of the school-aged population

  3. 1.1 million and growing… Figure 1. Estimated number and 95 percent confidence interval for number of homeschooled students, ages 5 through 17 with a grade equivalent of kindergarten through 12th grade: 1999 and 2003

  4. How many homeschoolers in NY State? Your district?

  5. Good luck!

  6. The 80/20 Rule

  7. “Homeschoolers at the Public Library: Are Library Services and Policies Keeping Pace?” by Amy McCarthy and Deborah Lines Andersen

  8. The Ten Easiest Things You Can Do to Better Serve Homeschoolers

  9. #1: Talk to homeschoolers who visit the library. • Start finding out what the homeschoolers in your area are looking for. • Not all homeschoolers are the same.

  10. #2: Make sure people can find homeschooling materials. • They can’t check out what they can’t find. • Make a special section for homeschooling materials. • A spine label or pathfinder could work.

  11. #3: Learn what homeschooling groups are active in your community, what their missions are, and who is running them. • Tap into existing networks. • Word-of-mouth. • Remember that homeschoolers can be ultra-sensitive about privacy issues.

  12. #4: Allow and encourage homeschoolers to use library meeting room space. • This gets the homeschoolers in your library. • Maybe they’ll even let you talk.

  13. #5: Display projects created by homeschooled children and teens.

  14. #6: Create handouts of the NYS laws and regulations pertaining to homeschoolers.

  15. #7: Maintain a file of catalogs from companies that sell materials and supplies of interest to homeschoolers. • Store in boxes. • Circulate or make reference. • Could also devote a portion of your website to this.

  16. #8: Extend any privileges you extend to public and private school teachers (extended loan, no overdue fines, increased limits, etc.) to homeschoolers. • Homeschooling parents are teachers. • Risk vs. benefit.

  17. #9: Consider the needs of homeschoolers when creating library policies. • Meeting rooms • Loan periods • Item limits • Interlibrary loan fees • Overdue fines/maximum fines • Volunteer programs

  18. #10: Attend local homeschooling conferences, lectures, and curriculum fairs. • Talk to homeschoolers. • Hear what they’re talking about. • Look at potential acquisions for your collection. • LEAH (Loving Education at Home) annual conference in Syracuse (www.leah.org).

  19. Looking for more? • Homeschoolingandlibraries.wordpress.com • Helping Homeschoolers in the Library due out from ALA Editions in January 2008!

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